Rel's Faded Glory Campaign (Thank You Old One!)

[Single Malt]

You just sort of sauntered off my first page whistling innocently didn't you? Well, I'm sorry, sir, but I can't let you do that. You'll have to come with me. Here, if you would just quietly take your place on the front row, like that yes. Ah very good....

When can we expect a new episode?

 

[Rel]

Welcome, Single Malt. Nice name!

We play again tomorrow night so I am hoping I'll have time to get the last session written up tonight. It was pretty much one protracted combat and those take a while to write up if you take them blow by blow (which is more or less the way I write them).

I'll give you a bit of a sneak preview:

The party learns that even without Ilrath they can still kick butt and still get themselves into big trouble.

Rel makes a rather large rules error that certainly had a big impact on the game.

The blow of the rules screw up is softened by the fact that we laughed more this session than we have in a long time.



Stay tuned!

 

[Broccli_Head]

Just catching up on the story and looking forward to seeing what the characters are capable of and a big battle with gnolls!

What levels are the PCs now?

 

[Rel]

Hey, Broc (I hope you don't mind that I always shorten your name. If you like, I can call you Mr. Head. Feel free to shorten my name when addressing me.).

I suppose that the switch to the new boards and the switch to a new chapter of the campaign is a good opportunity to recap the characters and their abilities:

Speaks With Stone (Druid 5): Speaks is the "swiss army knife" of the party. His spells are not always the most flashy and impressive (although sometimes they are) but they are astoundingly useful for a wide range of situations. His early feats were focused on making him more useful in combat (Dodge and Mobility) with an eye toward enhancing his effectiveness with the long spear (possibly developing Spring Attack in the future). Lately, he has decided to place his attention more on his role as the primary spell caster in the group (he picked up Brew Potion at 3rd).

Krase Sandoval (Ranger 1/Fighter 4): Krase is now the sole "front liner" for the group since the departure of Ilrath the barbarian. Krase's style has always focused on being a finesse fighter. He dual weilds short swords and now has graduated to a pair with bonuses (Heartneedle, the +1 orc slaying sword recovered in the Stone Tooth and a masterwork sword - as yet unnamed - purchased from a smith in the lands across the Fodor). The addition of Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization for the short swords and is starting to deal out some consistent damage with them. He also has the Dodge feat and the addition of Expertise, coupled with his naturally high Dex, means that he can jack his AC up very high when the situation warrants.

Rhys Cameron (Rogue 1/Sorcerer 4): Rhys is the arcane power in the party. His list of spells is short but very useful, especially with the recent addition of Cat's Grace. His liberal use of this new spell has boosted everyone in the party's effectiveness when it comes to AC. His feat selection has enhanced his combat abilities. His role in the party has always been that of missile support and Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot have helped immensely in that regard. He added Weapon Finesse for his rapier at 3rd, which makes him more of a threat with his sneak attack. Thanks to a variety of wands, he is becoming more of a dedicated spell caster. He is also finding that Sleep is a handy way of downing the lower level creatures the party encounters.

That pretty well sums up the party from a level/cabilities standpoint. Their motivations are fairly clearly spelled out in the story. I'll see if I can prod them into making any further comments about the ways they view their characters.

 

[Rel]

I managed to get most of the last session written up last night. I'll post it in two parts. Hopefully I can get the second part polished up during lunch time and post it this afternoon.

Oh, and whoever rated me a 5-Star story hour, thanks. I'm not sure I deserve it, but thanks.

Battle Royalle

The party decided that the fog that hung in the valley in the cool spring mornings would make excellent cover for their approach to Aquae Sulis. They would approach from the southeast toward a largely intact section of wall.

Speaks' scouting had given them a fairly clear picture of the Gnolls' routines. They spent most of their waking hours cutting wood for the palisades that patched the town wall and re-thatching the roofs of the mostly intact buildings. Gnoll guards stood watch at all the entrances to the town at all times.

They departed the tower in the pre-dawn dimness and quietly made their way southwest. They made an intentionally circuitous route to the town in the hopes of disguising where they were camped. Emerging from the cover of the woods, they crept as quietly as possible toward the section of wall they wished to target. They all felt lighter on their feet as they went, thanks to Rhys' new spell.

(The party was very "buffed" for this battle. Rhys had given all three of them Cat's Grace and Spider Climb. Thanks to Speaks, Rhys and Krase both had Barkskin.)

As they made their way across the open field toward the walls, Speaks twice conjured an Obscuring Mist around them to increase the intensity of the fog. Thus, they made their way to the wall undetected.

Peeking over the wall, they saw the Gnoll guards right where they expected them to be. Speaks crept around the end of the wall so that he could see along the eastern wall of the town. Then he conjured a swath of Spike Growth that extended across the eastern entrance to the town and went off into the fog, beyond his sight. Moments later, cries of pain were heard in the foggy distance.

All three members of the party used the Spider Climb ability to easily scale the eight foot high wall. Krase and Rhys began to fire their bows at the closest of the Gnolls while Speaks blanked the area in one of his Entangle spells.

As the Gnolls suddenly became aware that they were under attack, the closest dove into the remains of a nearby building amid a hail of missile fire by Rhys and Krase. As it turned out, this was a classic case of "out of the firing range, into the fire" as Speaks conjured a Flaming Sphere on the rooftop of the building.

With their primary target out of sight for the moment, Rhys and Krase turned their fire on one of the Gnolls caught in the entangled area. The Gnoll cried out for help from his fellows, "They're killing me out here!" Krase kept up his barrage of fire on the hapless Gnoll as Rhys scampered back and forth on the top of the wall, seeking an unobstructed line of fire on some of the other Gnolls. Speaks gleefully drove his ball of fire across the thatch rooftop and then had it leap across to the roof of an adjacent building. Sensing that the Gnolls were beginning to get organized in the interior of the town, he dropped another Entangle beyond the first one. This effectively blocked the majority of access to the southern exit of the town.

The few Gnolls who were inside the building nearest to the section of wall occupied by the party began to fire back with short bows while frantically trying to figure out how to escape from both the burning building and the entangling vines beyond. They had a very difficult time penetrating the defenses of party (thanks to the Cat's Grace and Barkskin).

With a final cry of "And now they've killed me!" the Gnoll who Krase had been shooting fell to the ground. Another nearby, who was also entangled, quickly fell as well. The pair in the burning building had managed to flee while avoiding the grasping vines. Speaks was gleefully sending his Flaming Sphere from rooftop to rooftop, setting fires to the buildings most likely to be inhabited by the Gnolls.

The Gnolls were in full retreat, but sounded like they were regrouping in the center of town. Off in the fog was the sound of a group of them leaving through the southern wall and coming toward the party. They had a long distance to travel in order to avoid the pair of entangled areas (that spell is absolutely huge). Krase dropped off the wall and readied his swords to receive the oncoming Gnolls.

As they came running out of the fog, Speaks allowed the first two to get fairly close. Then he dropped a third Entangle on the remainder of the group and snared several of them. One pair in particular were tantalizingly close to the edge of the vines but couldn't seem to break free (keep an eye on these guys, they turn out to be a lot of fun). This latest Entangle combined with the other two surrounded the party on three sides. The only approach the Gnolls could take to assault the party that would spare them the grasping vines and roots was a narrow alley barely ten feet wide. In this narrow space, Krase went to work with his swords.

Krase and Speaks were both still atop the wall which made them hard for the Gnolls to reach. They easily danced above the axes of the Gnolls and began to rain havoc down among them. Speaks opened up with another Flaming Sphere that sewed fires among the entangled Gnolls. Rhys fired his crossbow at point blank range into the chest of one of their attackers. The Gnoll grunted in pain but pressed on (not a hard decision since his only real avenue of retreat was into the grasping vines).

A short distance away, several gnolls struggled against nature's bonds and a few managed to escape to join the fray (but not either of the pair who were only five feet from the edge of the spell's effect). Another cast a spell at Rhys who briefly felt fear rising in his gut, but the young Sorcerer fought off the effects with ease. Another who wielded a fearsome looking heavy flail also attempted a spell but a root digging into his thigh interrupted his concentration.

Those of the Gnolls who managed to escape the vines and roots found themselves replacing some of their fallen brothers who fought the fearsome Krase. Krase was plunging his gladii into one Gnoll after another, mercilessly. He was finally getting some revenge against his hated enemies who he had last encountered when they sent him fleeing like a scampering doe across the Fodor.

Speaks noted that some of the Gnolls in the entanglement were attempting to cast spells and rammed into one of them with his ball of fire. Rhys scurried along the wall to get into position to use one of his wands on the Gnolls. The Gnolls who attacked them were finding them almost impossible to hit.

Another Gnoll broke loose from the entanglement and went to engage the party. The pair close to the edge could hear the fibers of their woodland bonds straining but still could not free themselves (They needed an 18 on their Str check to get free. This round I rolled 17's for both of them.). Those near Krase had him up against the wall but their weapons could not find a way through his armor.

Then, the Gnoll with the heavy flail barked out words holy to his people and stretched out his hand toward Krase. Suddenly, Krase found himself unable to move.

Speaks and Rhys glanced over to see how their friend fared and were horrified to see him helpless before his attackers. Rhys fired off a Sleep spell to knock out a pair of the Gnolls who threatened him. Speaks sent his ball of fire at one of the Gnoll spellcasters to distract him. Then he positioned himself to start using his sling against the Gnollish clerics.

The Gnolls nearest to Krase took advantage of his helplessness and began to deal him some terrible damage.

To be continued…

 

[Rel]

When we last left our heroes, Krase had been Held by the Gnollish cleric. He was nearly surrounded by Gnoll warriors and Rhys and Speaks were some 15-20 feet away, dealing with threats to themselves…

(Ok. This is where I screwed up. In the midst of this combat, I totally forgot about the coup-de-grace rules. I should have just had the Gnolls CDG Krase and it is very likely that he would have died. I was not trying to pull any punches. All I can say is that the only other time anybody in the campaign has even been close to being CDG'd was in the second session - a long time ago. The rule just hasn't been used that much and I forgot about it. I was also juggling about three other groups of Gnolls that I knew were off the map at that point, as well as the dozen or so that the party was actively engaged with. So, Krase got away with one thanks to my forgetting that rule. I regret that this happened but in light of how much fun we had the rest of the session, I can live with it. I'll just have to kill him later.)

Rhys fired off a Color Spray from his wand and engulfed several of the Gnolls who had penetrated the corridor between the entangles including a pair who threatened the helpless Krase. Unfortunately, only one of the Gnolls succumbed to the effects of the spell, the others merely impressed by the pretty lights. Speaks continued to ram away at one of the Gnoll clerics with his flaming sphere while he fired a sling stone at another one, missing entirely.

In turn, the Gnolls continued to hammer away at Krase, beating the warrior nearly to unconsciousness (Although I flubbed the CDG ruling, I was still having them hit him on anything but a 1). To make matters worse, another small group of Gnolls came around the corner from the east and closed on the nearest target: Krase. Things looked grim indeed for the lad from Glynden.

The Gnolls who remained trapped in the entangled area were now classified in one of two groups. There were the clerics who were attempting (and failing) to cast spells whilst being grappled by the vines and roots and then there were the pair of Gnoll warriors trapped right at the edge of the area who still couldn't pull free. All in all, a fairly ineffective group at the moment.

Rhys dropped another Sleep spell among Krase's attackers and a pair of them slumped to the ground. This bought the warrior a few more seconds of life as only one could attack him now. Speaks' ball of fire finally felled one of the Gnoll clerics before it poofed out of existence. His next sling stone missed the mark, much like the last one.

The remaining Gnoll who faced Krase chopped into the lad from Glynden once more, desperately trying to bring him down. Krase, helplessly receiving the barrage of attacks, saw the edges of his vision begin to go dark. He knew that in just a few moments his life would be over. Then he could suddenly move again.

The other Gnolls who had rounded the corner went past Krase and sought to engage the Druid and Sorcerer. Just a few feet away, the entangled Gnoll warriors struggled in vain against their bonds while more spells were ruined for the clerics.

Also at this point, the roofs of several of the buildings that Speaks had set fire to started to collapse. This offered an unobstructed view of Rhys (who stood atop the wall) to a trio of Gnolls inside the town. They began to send arrows his way but so far, he managed to dodge them easily.
Rhys fired off another of his Sleep spells into the group of Gnolls clustered at the base of the wall but only one succumbed to the spell. He suffered an attack from one of them in the process but it missed by a large margin. Speaks saw that Krase was free from whatever force had previously bound him and was bleeding from half a dozen wounds. He began to make his way toward the wounded warrior, drawing out one of his healing wands in the process.

By this point, most of the Gnoll warriors in the entangle-less corridor had been killed, slept or knocked out with the Color Spray. It looked as though the group might have a few moments to heal up before deciding their next move. But then, the Gnoll cleric with the nasty looking three-balled heavy flail, burst free from the entanglement. They knew that in just a moment, he would be close enough to begin swinging his fearsome weapon.

The other Gnoll cleric as well as the pair of warriors remained trapped within the entanglement and could only cheer on their ally.

Rhys turned and fired a crossbow bolt at the archers who were harassing him from inside the walls but the bolt went wide. Krase move the short remaining distance toward his allies and put himself between them and the oncoming Gnoll cleric (this could be seen as heroic in some circumstances but he really had nowhere else to go and besides, that put him adjacent to the Druid so he could receive healing). Speaks used his healing wand for the first time. It almost seemed to sputter as it delivered its recuperative magics (Speaks' player rolled a 1, giving Krase a grand total of 2 additional hit points).

A trio of Gnoll warriors straggled around the southeastern corner of the town wall and ran to the aid of the cleric, filing into the narrow corridor between the grasping roots and tree branches. As the entangled Gnolls gazed on, reduced to little more than a cheerleading section, the Gnoll cleric swung his flail overhead, shouting, "Yeenoghu!" (which Krase recognized as the name of the demon god of the Gnolls). As he did so, all three party members winced as a small jolt of pain shot through them. Rhys noticed the same expression of discomfort on the faces of the two Gnolls right behind the cleric. Then the cleric swung his mighty flail at Krase only to have it bounce harmlessly off his mithral breastplate. The cheering among the entangled Gnolls became a whimper of disappointment.

Krase dug his pair of swords into the Gnoll cleric causing a nasty pair of wounds that would have felled most of the Gnolls he had ever encountered. But not this one. Rhys fired another crossbow bolt down at the cleric, scoring a minor wound. Speaks used his wand to heal Krase again and a feeble wisp of magic issued forth (rolled a 2 this time, giving Krase 3hp).

Undaunted at his previous miss, the Gnoll cleric again swung the flail over his head while crying out the profane name of his deity. Again, each member of the party felt a jolt of pain. Then he brought his weapon around in a forceful blow that hurled Krase to the ground, unconscious. The other Gnolls cheered and those who were in the corridor between the entangles howled with bloodlust, anxious to attack the downed fighter. But there was simply no room to get past the cleric.

Speaks used his wand on Krase once more and this time managed to get some real results. Krase immediately stood up and plunged his magical gladius into the breast of the Gnoll cleric who spat blood back at the warrior. The Gnoll knew that the warrior was barely standing and the next swing of his flail would likely send him to his doom. But then, Rhys leveled his crossbow at the growling cleric and shot him at point blank range. It wasn’t the most spectacular shot he ever made but it was enough. The Gnoll fell to the ground.

The remainder of the Gnolls gazed at this scene with astonishment, then horror. The pile of Gnoll bodies that occupied the unentangled swath of ground, topped with one of their most powerful clerics was more than their morale could handle. They turned and ran, Krase cutting one down from behind as they did so.

The terror of it all actually inspired the remaining Gnoll cleric to break free and run as fast as his canine legs would carry him away from the party, yelling, "Retreat! They're invincible!" as he went. Not so for the pair of Gnoll warriors who had remained entangled within arms reach of the edge of the spell for the entire battle. They still couldn't break their bonds and now that the rest of their compatriots were fleeing, they did the best they could to look like a pair of trees and hide in plain sight.

Fully enraged by such a brutal battle with his hated enemies, Krase paused only long enough for Speaks to give him a couple more doses of healing from the wand before he went tearing off after the retreating Gnolls.

Then Speaks spend a few more moments healing himself and Rhys from the minor wounds they had received during the battle. Meanwhile Rhys set about killing the sleeping Gnolls (At this point in the session, Rhys' player says something about coup-de-grace-ing the sleeping Gnolls and I slap my forehead, realizing my mistake with Krase). Then he cast Detect Magic in the area of the battle to confirm that the flail was magical (he found nothing else of a magical nature in the area).

In the mean time, Krase had run all the way around two of the Entangles (a considerable distance) and charged into the flank of a group of Gnolls that were forming up to defend the south entrance to the town. Initially, the Gnolls were shying away from the warrior, his reputation as being invincible having preceded him. But then, one of the other Gnoll clerics rallied them, crying out, "For Yeenoghu's sake, it's only one warrior! Kill him!"

The Gnolls moved in to attack, swinging their axes as they went. But Krase was nearly impossible to hit with his Cat's Grace enhanced agility and Barkskin to top things off. He did however begin to realize that he was going to have a tough time defeating a dozen gnolls by himself, regardless of how tough he was to hit. The point became entirely moot a moment later when he was targeted by a Cause Fear spell by the cleric.

Speaks was just about to make the lengthy trek around the entangles to aid Krase when they heard him cry out in abject terror and begin to run directly through the entangled area, making a b-line for the safety of the tower (for once during the session, Krase made a saving throw and avoided the roots and vines). He went streaking past Speaks and Rhys, screaming in fear.

The Druid and Sorcerer looked at each other and at the retreating Krase and said, "Well, I guess we're done for the day."

As they turned to leave, Rhys gestured to the pair of entangled Gnoll warriors who had spent the entire battle trapped just feet from freedom. "What about these guys? Should I kill them?"

The Gnolls (who spoke a smattering of Imperial) looked at each other in horror.

"Nah,", replied Speaks.

The Gnolls breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"just kill one.", the Druid continued as he pulled his ceremonial mask down over his face.

The Gnolls faces showed an expression of shock (if you can read their hyena faces that is) and without missing a beat, each pointed at the other and barked, "Kill him!"

Rhys looked back and forth at the pair as he loaded his crossbow and then calmly shot one right in the chest. The Gnoll looked down at the bolt protruding from his midsection and then dropped to the ground. The other Gnoll laughed at him in his distinctive hyena cackle.

Rhys slung his crossbow over his shoulder and turned to leave, following the Druid. As he went, he glanced back at the pair of Gnolls and caught a glimpse of the one he had just shot looking around to see if they had left yet (he was playing possum). Rhys raised his hand and shot forth a Ray of Frost that finally did the Gnoll in. This caused the other Gnoll to laugh even harder.

Rhys jogged a short way to catch up with Speaks. There was no question that the Gnolls knew which direction they went and it wouldn't be long before they figured out that they were camped in the old wizard's tower. They figured they'd better hurry back and prepare for a counter attack.

NEXT: Anybody Else Want To Negotiate?

 

[Rel]

Anybody Else Want To Negotiate?

The trio made their way back to the tower and pulled up the drawbridge (Speaks had fixed the broken chain using a Stone Shape to fashion a replacement link out of a rock). They went inside and wasted no time before celebrating. They went to the kitchen level and grabbed one of the bottles of Novantae scotch. Then they retired to the tower roof and toasted their victory. None of them seemed to have any problems with drinking before noon.

They spent a while patting each other on the back and giving a good-natured ribbing to Krase nearly getting himself killed. After a bit more celebration, Rhys decided to go and rest for a bit, fearing that they would have a long afternoon and night watching out for any Gnollish counterattacks. Speaks also went inside the tower and Krase enjoyed sitting on the tower roof, sipping his scotch, enjoying the cool spring morning. It was a good day to be alive.

Krase was half dozing on the tower roof when a voice called out from below in broken Imperial. "Hello?"

Krase looked down to find a single Gnoll standing some 50 feet from the base of the tower. He told the Gnoll to wait and went inside the tower to fetch Speaks. They let Rhys continue his nap since they knew that sleep was important for him to regain his spells. They returned to the tower roof to address the Gnoll.

"What do you want?" demanded Speaks. As he spoke, he noticed that this was the Gnoll whom Rhys had allowed to live earlier in the morning.

The Gnoll was clearly afraid (tail between the legs and all) but mustered what courage he possessed and said, "You want us to leave the town?"

"I think we made that pretty clear this morning." replied Speaks.

"We must have the Flail before we go." said the Gnoll, wincing at having just made a demand of those who had slain nearly a score of his tribesmen just a few hours ago.

Speaks and Krase regarded one another for a moment and then told the Gnoll to stay where he was. They went back inside the tower and woke Rhys to have a discussion about what to do.

(This conversation ran all over the place. Every option was discussed from giving the flail back and telling the Gnolls to leave to a staunch conviction that the world would not be safe until every Gnoll was exterminated. They talked of ambushing the Gnolls and of trying to strike a peace. This all probably took some 20 minutes of game time and I would periodically holler a tentative "Hello?" from the Gnoll, whom they ignored entirely.)

They finally arrived at the rudiments of a plan. All three stepped out onto the balcony and Rhys addressed the Gnoll (who whimpered in fear at the sight of the cold-blooded human). "We see no reason to discuss this matter with the likes of you. Send someone with some authority to speak with us in the morning."

The Gnoll seemed pleased to be dismissed but knew what would await him back in the ruins of Aquae Sulis if he didn't have some kind of answer to the question he'd been sent to ask. "And, um, then can we have the Flail?"

Rhys regarded him for a moment. "Uh, yeah. We'll see."

The Gnoll scurried out of the clearing and ran off to the west.

"So what exactly are we going to do when they come in the morning?" Speaks asked Rhys.

"Well, let's figure something out!" Rhys replied.

They party spent the rest of the afternoon coming up with various plans and finally settled on one. Then they settled in for a watchful night of guarding against Gnollish treachery.

NEXT: Deceit and Death

 

[Broccli_Head]

Of course there's going to be gnoll treachery. They're chaotic evil!

What is the final body count for that first assault? They really took it to them!

 

[Darklone]

Faded Glory => The Glory returns!

Hellow Rel!

Started with the Old Ones story hour and now hopped over to yours too. You started strong and got better every time! I love the players and I am very impressed of your story.

Old One, Rel, whatabout a little meeting of your groups ?

 

[Old One]

Good Stuff!

I can only hope you have some dastardly DM plan to spring on them! I also keep forgetting that there are only three of them...they lost a lot of firepower with the departure of Ilrath and the loss or Arc, but they are still jumping into it with both feet!

I will be interested to see how things progress!

Old One